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"Wall Street Wasn't Even On His Radar" Holder: A Stooge for Wall Street Attorney General Eric Holder's statements that prosecuting Wall Street fraud would hurt the economy is exactly backwards: the experts say that failing to prosecute fraud is dooming our economy. But prosecuting fraud was never on Holder's radar. Politico notes: Ted Kaufman, a... Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers likely maintained a fairly healthy pace of hiring in June, consistent with data that have suggested a sharp economic contraction in the first-quarter was an aberration.

Miami Region May Home Sales June 30, 2014 Miami-area home sales held steady in May compared with both April and a year earlier as an increase in mid- to high-end activity compensated for a sharp drop in sub-$300,000 deals and fewer cash and absentee purchases. The shift in market mix, which included a pullback in condo resales, helped the median sale price shoot up to $195,300 - the highest level in nearly five and a half years, a real estate information service reported. In May, 11,379 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the metro area encompassing Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties. May sales dipped 0.4 percent from the prior month and were unchanged compared with a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm, which is now owned by Irvine-based property information company CoreLogic, tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records. Between January and May this year a total of 50,008 homes had sold in the Miami region, down 2.6 percent from the same period last year. Sales usually rise modestly between April and May. On average, Miami sales have increased 3.1 percent between those two months since 1997, when DataQuick's complete Miami-area statistics begin. This May's sales were 3.3 percent below the average number of sales for the month of May since 1997. May's condo resales were 26.0 percent above average for the month, while single-family detached house resales were 2.2 percent below the long-term average and new-home sales were 73.9 percent below average. Condo resales fell 2.9 percent in May compared with a year earlier but continued to account for an above-average share of all activity. In May, condo resales represented 47.5 percent of total sales, compared with an historical monthly average of about 35.8 percent. However, the resale condo share of total sales in May was down from 50.0 percent in April and 48.9 percent a year earlier. In May, the median price paid for all new and resale houses...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan traveled to Columbus, Ohio today to announce that four communities will receive a combined $119.7 million to redevelop severely distressed public or HUD-assisted housing and bring comprehensive neighborhood revitalization to blighted areas. HUD is awarding Choice Neighborhoods Initiative implementation grants to stakeholder groups in Columbus, Ohio; Norwalk, Connecticut; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in order to begin the process of transforming, rehabilitating and preserving public housing and privately owned HUD-assisted housing.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Federal Reserve's easy policy stance is not permanent and is already waning, said John Williams, president of the San Francisco Fed, on Monday. In a speech to bankers in Sun Valley, Idaho, Williams hit back at critics of the central bank who said the Fed should not be continuing with bond purchases and low interest rates so long after the end of the recession. Referring to the economy as a patient with a broken leg, Williams said that Fed policy had to stay on while the economy healed. "You leave the cast on until the bone heals," or else you could do even greater damage, he said. Although the Fed is not close to raising interest rates "we've already considerably reduced the pace of our asset purchases, which will likely end this year," he said. "As the economy continues to improve we'll take off the cast; when it's able to move on its own, we'll take away the walking stick," Williams added. He was upbeat about the outlook, seeing growth above 3% in 2015 and 2016 and inflation moving gradually back toward the Fed's 2% target.

Alan S. Kaplinsky It should be no surprise that the CFPB and Republican Congressman Jeb Hensarling, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, have different perspectives on the U.S. Supreme Court&#8217;s ruling last week that President Obama exceeded his Constitutional recess appointment authority when he filled three vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board in January 2012 . ... More &#62;

More homebuyers are paying in cash upfront In the aftermath of the recession, a record share of homebuyers are foregoing mortgages altogether, paying the full sales price upfront and in cash. Between 2006 and 2012, cash sales jumped from 21 to 40 percent of home sales before declining slightly in 2013. But what's driving these [...]

Last week, Secretary Jacob J. Lew announced new efforts to assist struggling and prospective homeowners and provide more affordable options for renters, while speaking at the Making Home Affordable (MHA) Fifth Anniversary Summit held at Treasury. Secretary Lew specifically unveiled a new financing partnership between the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) aimed at supporting the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) multifamily mortgage risk-sharing program. In addition, the Secretary announced an extension of the MHA program for at least one year and a new effort to help jumpstart the Private Label Securities (PLS) market. On Thursday morning, Secretary Lew visited the Greater Washington Urban League located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. This visit highlighted Treasury's continued commitment to helping struggling homeowners get mortgage relief and avoid foreclosure and underscores the importance of trusted community partners to help Treasury identify families who could benefit from MHA programs. While at the Greater Washington Urban League, Secretary Lew toured the facility and met with housing counselors who shared stories of the housing troubles their clients have and the challenges facing homeowners when making their mortgage payments. Back at Treasury during the MHA Fifth Anniversary Summit that day, almost 100 participants including consumer advocates, mortgage industry professionals, congressional staff, representatives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and Federal officials, discussed how to broaden the adoption of foreclosure mitigation tools created under MHA, and how to preserve the lessons learned through the program. A theme throughout the day was the importance of collaboration and partnership between the public, private, and non-profit sectors in foreclosure prevention efforts. Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Bowler credited such collaboration with helping the way the...

U.S. Bank has agreed to pay the United States $200 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet applicable requirements.

By Chief Economist Frank E. Nothaft We, like many, expected more out of housing so far this year. Existing home sales were down 6 percent while new home sales were unchanged during the first five months of 2014 compared with the same time last year. Single-family housing construction was lackluster too with building permits slipping 2 percent and housing starts up a meager 1 percent over this same five-month window. One of the few bright spots in housing activity occurred for multifamily rentals: starts of buildings with five or more apartments jumped 16 percent during January through May compared with a year ago, and vacancy rates on rental apartments tracked by Reis dipped to 4.0 percent in the first quarter, down from 4.4 percent a year earlier, and the lowest recorded by the firm since 2000. That's great for the rental industry, but also means your rent is going up. Read More

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